He served as an imam with a fake diploma, this is how he defended himself! 'Why isn't this case closed?'

Yavuz Koç served as an imam for years with a fake diploma and received a salary from the state. However, when the forgery of his diploma was noticed by the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), Koç found himself in serious trouble. Upon inquiry by the Ministry of National Education, it was determined that the diploma had not been issued by the Vocational Open Education High School Directorate and that it actually belonged to another student.

The Presidency of Religious Affairs applied to the Ministry of National Education to verify the authenticity of the diploma due to these suspicions. The investigation revealed that the diploma had never been issued. Furthermore, Koç had his fake diploma notarized not only by the Ministry of National Education but also by the 15th Notary Public of Üsküdar. Using this notarized fake document, he enrolled in the Open Education Faculty of Eskişehir Anadolu University and subsequently applied to the Diyarbakır Mufti's Office.

"WHY ISN'T THIS CASE CLOSED?"

His brazen defense in court drew attention. In his testimony taken abroad, Yavuz Koç said, "I took a Quran memorization course and thought the diploma was real. I took the Open Education Faculty and KPSS exams and did not encounter any problems. I also had it notarized. I am not a fraudster. I do not understand why this case is still not closed."

Koç defended himself by claiming that this legal process began due to a complaint by his ex-wife, whom he was divorced from at the time of the alleged crime.

CAUSED LOSSES TO THE STATE

The court stated that Koç began his duty as an imam using the fake diploma and received a salary for two years between 2015 and 2017. Emphasizing that the state had suffered significant losses during this period, the court sentenced Koç for chain-linked fraud. However, although he was tried for forgery of an official document, the court ruled for his acquittal on that charge, stating that the statute of limitations had expired.

The court sentenced Koç to 2.5 years in prison for causing damage to the state by using a fake diploma. He was also fined 96 thousand 360 liras. The court applied a good conduct reduction, lowering the sentence to 2 years and 6 months. Koç's fine was divided into 12 installments.